On May 10th Pope Benedict XVI bestowed on the twelfth century German mystic, foundress, and poet, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, what is called an “equivalency canonization.” This is done when someone who has been venerated as a saint for centuries through popular acclaim, but was never formally canonized according to the Church’s normative rules, is elevated to the altar officially by the pope and given a feast day in the Church’s liturgical calendar. The normative process for official canonizations was established in 1170 by Pope Alexander III and relegated thenceforth to the Vicar of Christ alone. Prior to this, there had been many canonizations which were accepted universally, and near the turn of the first millennium, there were a few cases of even bishops canonizing a local candidate. These, of course, were not infallible acts. So, it was with Saint Hildegard who died in 1179. She was renowned, however, not only locally, but throughout the universal Church for her wisdom and sanctity (she was a friend of Saint Bernard [+1153] as well) but never benefited from a canonical process directly adjudicated by the pope. You can read more about this here and here.
On October 7, feast of the Holy Rosary, Pope Benedict will declare Saints Hildegard and John of Avila Doctors of the Church. Hildegard will be the fourth woman doctor. After October 7, there will be thirty-five saints declared Doctors. See Catholic Culture here with links for this news.
